Iraqi Forces Move Into Mahdi Army Territory

June 15, 2008|By Ned Parker and Saif Rasheed Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces began to move into the southern city of Amarah on Saturday, and locals braced for the latest government offensive against the Mahdi Army militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Amarah, capital of Maysan province, is one of the dwindling bastions of the al-Sadr movement in Iraq. The cleric's followers control the governing council, and its militia is dominant in the streets.

Western officials believe many hard-core fighters associated with the Mahdi Army fled to the province from Basra after the government waged a campaign against what it called lawlessness in the southern port in late March.

The March campaign was heralded as a drive by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to try to assert his authority in the country, which has suffered from sectarian war and other violence in the last five years. A military officer with the U.S.-led coalition, who declined to give his name, confirmed Saturday that Iraqi operations in Basra province were spreading into Maysan.

A local official in Amarah said troops were moving in.

"Now there is Iraqi army deployment in the city and main crossroads," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. "The main goals of the operation will be to go after the wanted individuals involved in various crimes, disarm the city (and) activate the rule of law."

Late Saturday, state television channel Iraqia announced that al-Maliki had given a Wednesday deadline for residents to hand in their explosives and larger weapons.

Residents said fliers had been dropped from aircraft warning them of an imminent military campaign and urged them to stay out of the way.

Spokesman Salah Obeidi said the Sadrists had sent a delegation to Amarah to monitor the situation.

On Friday, al-Sadr appeared to move toward reorganizing the Mahdi Army and shifting much of his movement's focus toward peaceful social activities, with only a select number of cadres allowed to bear arms.

On Saturday, a female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq's win in a World Cup qualifier, wounding at least 34 people near a cafe north of Baghdad, police said.

The young woman, who was covered in a traditional black Islamic robe, was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack as dozens of cheering young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in Qara Tappah.

The woman told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, said the town's top administrator, Serwan Shukir.

Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, Shukir said, but the officer's warning had averted a higher casualty toll by preventing the woman from reaching the bulk of the fans.

Police Capt. Najib Khourshid said she was about 20 yards away from the crowd when the blast occurred.

"About 100 people were in the cafe and we went out to celebrate the victory after the match. Minutes later, a big explosion took place near us," said Salman Hameed, who was wounded in his chest and right hand. "The female bomber has spoiled our joy and celebration."

Hameed, a Sunni Arab, said five of his Kurdish and Turkomen friends were wounded in the attack.

Qara Tappah is a mainly Kurdish and Shiite Turkomen city, about 75 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province. The attack followed warnings by U.S. officials that al-Qaida in Iraq is increasing efforts to recruit women as suicide attackers in a bid to subvert stepped-up security measures, particularly in Diyala.

In Baghdad, a bomb hidden on a bus exploded in a Shiite neighborhood, killing two people and wounding eight, police said. Three other civilians were injured Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the capital's Karradah district, police said.

President Bush, meanwhile, brushed off comments that negotiations on a long-term security agreement between the United States and Iraq are faltering ahead of a July target date for completion. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters Friday that the talks were deadlocked but would continue.

The Iraqi national security council met Saturday and expressed support for al-Maliki's management of the talks, according to a government statement.